Largest Cities
Largest cities or towns of Brazil 2010 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimate |
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Rank | City name | State | Pop. | Rank | City name | State | Pop. | ||
São Paulo
|
1 | São Paulo | São Paulo | 11,316,149 | 11 | Belém | Pará | 1,402,056 | Salvador
|
2 | Rio de Janeiro | Rio de Janeiro | 6,355,949 | 12 | Goiânia | Goiás | 1,318,148 | ||
3 | Salvador | Bahia | 3,093,605 | 13 | Guarulhos | São Paulo | 1,233,426 | ||
4 | Brasília | Distrito Federal | 2,609,997 | 14 | Campinas | São Paulo | 1,088,611 | ||
5 | Fortaleza | Ceará | 2,476,589 | 15 | São Luís | Maranhão | 1,027,429 | ||
6 | Belo Horizonte | Minas Gerais | 2,385,639 | 16 | São Gonçalo | Rio de Janeiro | 1,008,064 | ||
7 | Manaus | Amazonas | 1,832,423 | 17 | Maceió | Alagoas | 943,109 | ||
8 | Curitiba | Paraná | 1,764,540 | 18 | Duque de Caxias | Rio de Janeiro | 861,157 | ||
9 | Recife | Pernambuco | 1,536,934 | 19 | Teresina | Piauí | 822,363 | ||
10 | Porto Alegre | Rio Grande do Sul | 1,413,094 | 20 | Natal | Rio Grande do Norte | 810,780 |
Cities in Brazil, except for the state of São Paulo, are usually not arranged in a single network, but rather on various export paths to seaside ports. The most important cities are on the coast or close to it. State capitals are also each the largest city in its state, except for Vitória, Brazil, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, the capital of Santa Catarina. There are also non-capital metropolitan areas in São Paulo state (Campinas, Santos and Paraíba Valley), Minas Gerais (Steel Valley), Rio Grande do Sul (Sinos Valley), and Santa Catarina (Itajaí Valley).
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are far larger than any other Brazilian city. São Paulo's influence in most economic aspects can be noted in a national (and even international) scale; other Brazilian metropolises are second tier, even though Rio de Janeiro (partially due to its former status as the national capital) still host various large corporations' headquarters, besides being Brazil's cultural center with respect to soap operas and film production.
Read more about this topic: Brazilian Society
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